The BJP, which has stormed to power in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, is yet to furnish the details of its sources of funds to the Election Commission of India, according a report by the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR). 

The report claimed that the saffron party did not submit the last fiscal year’s (2013-14) fund details to the poll panel even though it is a mandatory exercise. 

The report also claimed that around 90 per cent of the donations received by political parties are coming from corporate bigwigs. 

A new report claims that the saffron party did not submit the last fiscal year’s (2013-14) fund details to the poll panel even though it is a mandatory exercise

The Congress slammed the BJP for not complying with the mandatory requirement of the election commission. 

“If the BJP has not furnished such details to the EC, it is not only a violation of statutory obligations, but also exposes its doublespeak on the issues of probity and transparency. 

"As per the law, political parties will have to submit such information to the Income Tax department and give the same to the EC as well,” said senior Congress leader Manish Tiwari. 

According to the analysis, the donations received by Congress, NCP and CPI in the fiscal year 2013-14 rose to Rs 62.69 crore—an increase of 517 per cent from the previous financial year. 

The study included national parties like Congress, CPI, CPI(M) and NCP. 

“Political parties have received 90 per cent donations from corporate. This shows that there is an increasing hold of the corporate sector over political parties, which is somewhat disconcerting. 

"The ruling party not submitting its donation report is not a good sign as it possibly indicates a lack of respect for integrity of institutions, which is not healthy for a democracy,” said Jagdeep Chhokar, founder-trustee of ADR. 

The ADR report said donations received by the Congress rose from Rs 11.72 crore in 2012-13 to Rs 59.58 crore in 2013-14, which indicated an increase of 408 per cent. 

In 2012-13, donations declared by the BJP were more than the aggregate declared by the Congress, NCP, CPI and CPI(M) in 2013-14. 

The ADR report also claimed that Bharti Group’s Satya Electoral Trust donated the maximum amount of Rs 36.5 crore to the Congress followed by A.V. Patil Foundation, which donated Rs 5 crore and Bharat Forge Ltd that gave Rs 2.50 crore. 

None of these three groups donated funds to the Congress during 2012-13. The Congress has received the highest amount—Rs 59.58 crore through 743 donation —as per the ADR report. 

Political parties are required to submit their contribution report for fiscal year 2013-14 before the due date, which was October 31, 2014. 

The total amount of donations above Rs 20,000 declared by the national parties was Rs 76.93 crore, from 881 entities. 

On an average, the Congress received Rs 11.70 lakh per donor, NCP Rs 1 crore, the CPI Rs 3.23 lakh and the CPI(M) Rs 4.03 lakh. 

According to the ADR report, the top three donors of the NCP are Satya Electoral Trust (Rs 4 crore), followed by Shirke Infrastructure (Rs 2 crore) and Serum Institute of India Ltd. (Rs 1.50 crore). 

The CPI received the funds through collection, levy and membership fee. A maximum amount was given by Gurudas Dasgupta (Rs 25 lakh). 

He was followed by Andhra Pradesh State Council of CPI (Rs 14.96 lakh) and Kerala State Council of CPI (Rs 11.53 lakh). 

The report said a total of Rs 45.49 crore was donated to national parties by corporates and individuals in Delhi. 

The Capital was followed by Maharashtra (Rs 18.12 crore) and Gujarat (Rs 3.01 crore). 

The ADR said the Congress has not followed the format prescribed by the election commission in declaring its donation details.